Two independent audits confirm NordVPN as top tool for blocking malicious sites
NordVPN Threat Protection Pro proved its capabilities in malware and phishing protection, yet again. Here’s all you need to know.
Two independent audits officially confirm that NordVPN is way more than just the best VPN app on the market.
Experts at AV-TEST, a German cybersecurity testing firm, recently ranked NordVPN‘s newly launched Threat Protection Pro as the top tool for blocking malicious sites. The feature also received the highest rating in an anti-malware validation conducted by the technical research and product testing organization West Coast Labs (WCL).
While you need to upgrade to a top-tier plan to use NordVPN Threat Protection Pro, you can now save some bucks in the process thanks to its great time-limited Black Friday VPN deal.
Two golden medals for protection
In October, AV-TEST evaluated the capabilities of five well-known VPN providers in detecting different types of malicious links.
These included three specific categories: phishing links, portable executable (PE) URLs (for example, EXE files), and non-portable executable web addresses (for example, HTML and JavaScript files). Experts also looked at how good the VPN services were in avoiding false positives, meaning flagging legitimate links as malicious.
NordVPN Threat Protection Pro managed to successfully detect and block 83.42% of malicious links, leading in all three categories. In contrast, the second-best result captured only less than half (46.96%).
AV-TEST experts used 3,209 links in total, consisting of 1,050 malicious links to PE files, 1,031 links to other malicious (non-PE) file types, and 1,128 links to phishing sites. (Image credit: Nord Security)
WCL’s testing was focused on malware protection. Here, NordVPN achieved a staggering 99.8% detection rate for high-threat malware.
The provider earned the highest AAA rating overall thanks to top marks in other categories, too. These include a smooth buying experience, easy and customizable installation, sleek apps, and reliable customer support.
This isn’t the first time that NordVPN Threat Protection Pro has proved its effectiveness with third-party observers. Back in August, the feature gained the bronze medal out of 35 competitors as a top tool to avoid online shopping scams.
Yet, Domininkas Virbickas, head of development at Threat Protection, explains that the recent ratings complement the evaluations conducted by AV-Comparatives this summer by providing a broader picture of the tool’s capabilities.
(Image credit: NordVPN)
The latest round of testing carried out by TechRadar’s reviewers in September also confirmed how the provider upped the game for malware and phishing protection.
He said: “These results validate our consistent commitment to providing comprehensive protection against a wide range of online threats.”
As Virbickas puts it, “The internet is full of scammers.” A simple click on a wrong link is all it takes for attackers to steal your account, money, or identity.
It’s with this in mind that the team at NordVPN decided to give a boost to its tracker blocker tool back in June.
What used to be called Threat Protection Lite – now simply known as Threat Protection – is based on DNS filtering and is still available to all NordVPN customers using Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, macOS, and browser extensions.
By contrast, Threat Protection Pro works at the URL and Javascript levels to help you avoid tracking, phishing, scams, malware, and annoying ads and is exclusive for Standard, Plus, Complete, Ultimate, and Ultra subscribers on Windows and macOS only at the time of writing.